Laura Bush: No fear during protest
Monday, May 23, 2005 Posted: 10:15 AM EDT (1415 GMT)
GIZA, Egypt (CNN) -- First lady Laura Bush downplayed the hostile demonstrations she encountered Sunday while visiting some of Jerusalem's most holy sites, saying Monday she was not afraid and did not feel she was at risk.
"There were literally a handful of protesters," Bush said.
She said most of the people who were around her were members of the media.
"No, I did not feel afraid," she said.
Bush, on a political fence-mending tour of the Middle East, was at the center of a noisy and angry protest Sunday when she visited Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock, one of Islam's holiest sites.
Earlier, there was a demonstration by about 40 Israeli Jews at the Western Wall.
At the Dome of the Rock, protesters approached the first lady as she tried to enter the mosque, and security helped clear a path for her.
As she was leaving, the crowd was bigger and more vocal. People surrounded her and her Secret Service detail, pushing to get closer and shouting "How dare you come here?" and "You don't belong in this mosque."
Security closed in tightly around the first lady as the angry Muslim protesters came close. Many of the protesters were expressing fury at the United States.
Israeli security pushed through the crowd with linked arms. Some guards had guns drawn. At one point, a boy made his way up to Bush, and one guard momentarily pointed his gun at the boy, who then went running away. Steadily, the group made a slow procession back to Bush's motorcade. (Full story)
The first lady said the protests were not unexpected. She noted that even in the United States there are protesters wherever she goes, but she said the people she met on tour were friendly.
"The man who is there as the head of the Dome of the Rock was very welcoming to me," she said. "He was also impressed that President Bush is the first president ... to call for a free Palestine, an actual state there."
"We know, we knew when we came there these are places of great emotion. The holy land is the birthplace of three great religions ... of course there are tensions there, but that's part of the purpose of the trip, and part of the purpose of working for peace, so that Christians, Muslim and Jews can all go there, go to these sites, so our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can go there in peace.
"It was a very small moment, and I was surrounded by people who were very welcoming," she said.
Bush completed the Israel portion of her trip Monday with a stop at the Church of the Resurrection at Abu Ghosh, The Associated Press reported. The predominantly Muslim town, according to AP, is where some believe Jesus appeared on Easter.
"I think that Abu Ghosh, as we leave Israel, can show us what it's like when the people of three religions that have so many holy sites here in the holy land indeed can live in peace with each other," AP quoted Bush as saying.
From Israel, Bush traveled to Egypt, meeting with Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak, AP reported. The two taped a segment for the Egyptian version of "Sesame Street" stressing the importance of reading to children.
She said after news reports of the incidents, President Bush called her, but she said, she told him the reports were overblown.
"I told him that we were fine," she said.
Asked if she was not putting herself at risk making her trip to the Middle East, the first lady said, "It's not a risk. There is a very important mission behind all this and ... I'm perfectly safe." |
